How to Delete a Mailbox in TrekMail (Single and Bulk)

Deleting a mailbox removes its access and delivery. If your dashboard shows Recently deleted, the mailbox stays there for 7 days and can be restored before it is permanently removed. On installations without that area, deletion is permanent once the removal job finishes. This guide covers when to delete, safer alternatives, and what to expect in both cases.

Who deletes mailboxes

Account owners and admins. A mailbox user can't self-delete; only the account that owns the mailbox can.

When to delete vs other options

Deletion is the right move when:

• An employee has left and you don't need to receive their email anymore.
• A test or dummy mailbox is no longer needed.
• A client relationship ended and you're cleaning up.
• You're consolidating, multiple mailboxes are being merged into one.

Deletion is NOT the right move when:

• You want to keep receiving the address's mail (use forwarding instead, see "Alternatives" below).
• You want to temporarily lock out a user while you investigate something (suspend their sign-in, see "Alternatives" below).
• You think you might need the data later (export the mailbox to an archive first, IMAP download to a local client).

Path 1: Delete a single mailbox

1. Open Mailboxes.
2. Find the mailbox in the list (search if many).
3. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) on the right side of the row.
4. Select Delete mailbox.
5. A confirmation modal appears explaining what will be removed.
6. Confirm.

The confirmation screen tells you whether the mailbox will move to Recently deleted or is being queued for permanent removal.

When Recently deleted is available, the mailbox disappears from the main list and stops accepting sign-ins and new mail, but its address, mail, and settings remain reserved for restoration. It is permanently purged after 7 days, or sooner if you choose Delete forever. If that area is not available, treat the confirmation as final and export anything you need before proceeding.

Restore a mailbox from Recently deleted

This section applies only when Recently deleted appears in your Mailboxes area.

1. Open Mailboxes and choose Recently deleted.
2. Find the mailbox, each row shows how many days remain before it is permanently removed.
3. Click Restore to bring it back to active immediately (login, delivery, aliases, and settings return), or Delete forever to purge it now.

Restoring re-checks your plan's per-domain mailbox limit and its dedicated-storage allocation, if the mailbox has one. If the slot or storage capacity was used in the meantime, free capacity or upgrade before restoring. Deleting a domain or account is separate from this mailbox recycle-bin flow.

Path 2: Bulk delete multiple mailboxes

1. Open Mailboxes.
2. Tick the checkbox next to each mailbox you want to delete (or use the master "select all" checkbox).
3. The Bulk Actions bar appears at the top.
4. Click Bulk Actions → Delete mailboxes.
5. A confirmation modal lists the affected mailboxes by count.
6. Confirm.

Bulk deletion applies the same rule to every selected mailbox. For a large selection, let the dashboard finish the request before starting another bulk action. If Recently deleted is enabled, you can restore individual entries or a selection from there before the retention period ends.

What is kept while a mailbox is in Recently deleted

Until the retention period ends, the mailbox's address, aliases, mail, folders, filters, forwarding configuration, webmail data, and mailbox-owned Drive data stay with the deleted mailbox so it can be restored. The address is not available to assign to a new mailbox during that period.

What permanent deletion removes

Once a mailbox is permanently deleted, its mailbox-specific data is removed:

• All emails in every folder (Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, Spam, custom folders).
• All folders the mailbox had.
• All mail rules / Sieve filters that were attached to this mailbox.
• Auto-reply / vacation responder configuration.
• All aliases that pointed at this mailbox as a destination. The alias addresses themselves are released. You can reassign them to another mailbox or create new aliases with the same name afterward.
• Forwarding configuration (where this mailbox was forwarding to).
• Webmail data: contacts (CardDAV), calendar entries (CalDAV), saved searches, custom settings, signatures.
• Drive files owned by this mailbox (if account-level Drive features apply).
• Recovery codes and access codes issued for this mailbox.

There is no further restore option after permanent deletion. Keep an independent archive if you may need the information later.

What's NOT deleted

• Mail that hasn't arrived yet: there's no way to delete mail that hasn't been sent. New mail to the address will bounce after deletion (see below).
• External copies: anyone who replied-to / Bcc'd / forwarded mail to/from this mailbox still has their own copy. Their copies aren't touched.
• Mailbox quota / count on the domain, permanent deletion frees the slot. A mailbox held in Recently deleted remains reserved until it is restored or purged.
• Audit logs: deletion is recorded in our admin audit log along with the timestamp and the admin who performed the action.

What happens to mail sent to the address after deletion

Two cases:

• You have catch-all enabled on the domain: mail to the deleted address (and all of its aliases) falls through to the catch-all destination. See Catch-all Inbox.
• No catch-all: mail to the deleted address bounces with 550 User not found. The sender gets a non-delivery report.

If a critical address is being deleted, set up catch-all OR create a forwarding alias on a different mailbox before deleting. That way mail keeps arriving.

What happens to active webmail sessions

Active webmail sessions for the deleted mailbox become orphaned. The next API call or page load fails with an authentication error; the user is logged out. They can't sign back in (mailbox doesn't exist anymore).

For IMAP/SMTP connections, the client gets "authentication failed" on next request.

Alternatives to deletion

If you want lighter handling, several patterns preserve more:

Pattern A: Suspend sign-in

You want to stop the user from getting in, but keep their mail arriving.

1. Open the mailbox and go to the Limits tab.
2. Press Suspend sign-in, and type a reason if it helps you remember why.

They are signed out everywhere and cannot sign in again; mail keeps being delivered and waits in the mailbox. Press Restore sign-in when they should have it back. See Suspending Sign-In for a Mailbox.

Do not use a password change for this. The user can reset the password themselves from the sign-in page if they have a recovery email or a recovery code, so it does not actually lock anybody out.

Pattern A2: Suspend and forward

The same as above, plus you want the mail read by somebody else meanwhile.

1. Suspend sign-in as in Pattern A.
2. Enable forwarding from this mailbox to another (yours or a colleague's).
3. Decide "Keep a copy": yes if you want a backup, no if you want to keep storage low.

Forwarding keeps running while sign-in is suspended, so the mail reaches your colleague and the original mailbox stays intact.

Pattern B: Repurpose

You're offboarding the original user but want the address to keep working under new ownership.

1. Change the password to something the new user will use.
2. Update the display name if needed (Mailbox Settings → Display name).
3. Hand the new password to the new user securely.

The mailbox keeps its history; the user changes.

Pattern C: Archive locally before deleting

You want the historical mail offline but no longer in TrekMail.

1. Add the mailbox to a local IMAP client (Thunderbird is good for this).
2. Wait for full sync, IMAP downloads all messages to your local machine.
3. Verify the local archive is complete by spot-checking dates and counts.
4. Disconnect the IMAP account in Thunderbird (don't delete the local copy).
5. Then delete the mailbox on TrekMail.

The local archive is yours forever.

Bulk deletion safety

• Review the selected addresses before confirming, especially when you used the master checkbox.
• Do not repeat a deletion request while the dashboard is still processing it. Refresh the list after the request completes to confirm the result.
• Export mail before deleting an address that has legal, accounting, or operational value. A local IMAP archive is a practical independent copy.

Common mistakes

Common questions

Can I recover a deleted mailbox? Yes, if it is in Recently deleted and the retention period has not ended. Once it has been permanently deleted, recovery is not available from the dashboard.

What happens to forwarding rules pointing at the deleted mailbox? Other mailboxes' forwarding rules that listed the deleted mailbox as the destination start bouncing. Update them.

Can I delete the last mailbox on a domain? Yes. The domain remains active. New mail to the domain bounces unless you have a catch-all configured elsewhere.

Is there a way to bulk-delete by some filter (e.g. "all mailboxes inactive for 90 days")? Not via dashboard UI. The API or admin tools could potentially be used; contact support.

Does deletion affect billing? Mailbox count is tied to plan limits, not direct billing. Deleting a mailbox doesn't reduce your monthly bill. It only matters if you're at your plan's mailbox cap.